Egypt Resumes Trial of Muslim Brotherhood Leaders Accused of Terrorism

Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide Mohammed Badih, AP
Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide Mohammed Badih, AP
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Egypt Resumes Trial of Muslim Brotherhood Leaders Accused of Terrorism

Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide Mohammed Badih, AP
Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide Mohammed Badih, AP

Next week, the trial sessions of several leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egyptian authorities classify as a terrorist organization, will resume in Egypt.

On May 10, the Emergency State Security Court in Egypt will complete the trial of Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide Mohammed Badih, Mahmoud Ezzat and 77 other leaders from the organization.

The defendants face charges of “providing the Muslim Brotherhood with material aid and orchestrating a gathering with the purpose of committing premeditated murder in implementation of a (terrorist) purpose.”

The Public Prosecution charged the defendants with “committing murder, attempted murder for the purpose of terrorism, possession of firearms and ammunition without a license, possession of cold weapons, possession of explosives, assembly with the aim of disrupting state authorities from performing their work, thuggery, blocking roads, displaying force in order to intimidate citizens, sabotage, deliberately destroy public and private property, and deliberately setting fires to public and government facilities.”

Investigations revealed that “the defendants incited protesters to gather on and block the Nasr Road (east of Cairo).”

Besides disrupting transportation on Nasr Road, demonstrators were incited to set fire to a conference hall nearby, which led to the burning of the garden attached to the premise.

“The defendants assumed leadership of a group founded in violation of the provisions of the law,” Public Prosecution said last June.

The Prosecution added that the purpose of forming the organization is to incite public disorder, prevent state institutions and public authorities from carrying out their duties, and attack the personal freedom of citizens.

Next week, the Cairo Criminal Court will also issue its ruling in the retrial of 37 defendants in the case known in the media as the “Rabaa sit-in.”

The court had earlier sentenced to death 75 defendants, including Brotherhood leaders Mohamed El-Beltagy, Essam El-Erian and Abdel-Rahman El-Bar.



Palestinian President Abbas Appoints New Deputy in Major Step in Naming Successor

Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)
Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)
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Palestinian President Abbas Appoints New Deputy in Major Step in Naming Successor

Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)
Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary-general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, gestures during an interview with The Associate Press at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, June 13, 2022. (AP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday named a veteran aide and confidant as his new vice president. It’s a major step by the aging leader to designate a successor.

The appointment of Hussein al-Sheikh as vice president of the Palestine Liberation Organization does not guarantee he will be the next Palestinian president. But it makes him the front-runner among longtime politicians in the dominant Fatah party who hope to succeed the 89-year-old Abbas.

Abbas hopes to play a major role in postwar Gaza. He has been under pressure from Western and Arab allies to rehabilitate the Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.  

The PLO is the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinian people and oversees the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. Abbas has led both entities for two decades.